作者：Stefan von Gagern

游戏支配着每个App Store的热门列表。但是你该如何做才能创造一款优秀的游戏？每个人都知道《愤怒的小鸟》的成功故事，但是我们却很难描述它的成功原因。让我们深入分析这个例子。

每个人都知道这个故事：Rovio，2003年在芬兰成立的一家小型公司，最开始他们开发的是Java游戏，之后转向了智能手机。在开发了大约50款游戏后，他们最终创造了《愤怒的小鸟》这款大热门游戏，并发展成为了轰动全世界的知名品牌，之后还衍生出了各种产品，保持着更新，并诞生了《愤怒的小鸟星球大战》这种基于电影的授权游戏。他们成功的秘诀是什么？让我们听听创造者的说法：在2011年的Game Expo中，Rovio Mobile的Jaakko Lisalo和Matthew Wilson便深刻理解到创造性的重要作用，不管是理念，开发还是市场营销，他们也分享了成功的许多秘诀。

angry-birds-star-wars(from softonic.cn)

第一个秘诀便是百分百专注于智能手机。Jaakko Lisalo说道：“我们想要使用真正的屏幕控制，而非虚拟手柄。”许多智能手机都是从其它系统上移植过来的，因为真实的手擎是通过触屏上的软件按键进行模拟，所以很难控制。理念中的另外一个元素便是强大的角色，专注于“适合所有玩家”的设计和优秀的2D物理特性。

首先便是平面设计方面，Lisalo画了一些图去呈现出游戏外观和感受。其中一张图便突出了现在的《愤怒的小鸟》的外观。Lisalo说道：“似乎每个人都很喜欢它。甚至是发行商。他们希望拥有这款游戏，尽管那时候我们还未开始创造。”

你不需要一个巨大的团队

在第一款《愤怒的小鸟》开发过程中，他们的核心团队中只有4名成员。开发时间大约是4周。所有的事情都是他们独立完成的。举个例子来说吧：幽默是游戏的关键魅力。《愤怒的小鸟》使用了一些古怪的角色和声音设计：实际上，一箱啤酒便能帮助该团队独自创造出这些有趣的声音。就像图像设计师便是负责红鸟攻击绿猪所发出的声音。

保持简单并同时吸引休闲玩家和硬核玩家的注意

简单的角色和简单的游戏玩法能够帮助我们在较小的显示屏上创造角色。实际上《愤怒的小鸟》就像是一个圆形或简单的几何图形。熟悉的元素能够帮助我们立刻就理解游戏。第一个游戏版本的屏幕便让一些测试者感到困惑，因为那时候他们遗漏了一个主要的元素。Lisalo说道：“人们不知道该拿小鸟怎么办。所以我们便使用了弹弓。每个人便知道如何使用它了。”

手机游戏必须具有易用性，但如果能够提供深入内容与重玩价值，它们便也能让硬核玩家留在游戏中数周或数月。《愤怒的小鸟》便是一款基于技能的游戏。即使你是资深玩家，你也能遇到足够的挑战，例如当你瞄准了所有关卡中的三个星星时，你便需要反复进行尝试。“这便具有很多重玩价值。”

奖励游戏玩法

《愤怒的小鸟》不仅玩着有趣，看着都很有趣。屏幕上会出现连接不断的动作，所以当玩家在公车上打游戏时便会吸引邻座的观看。还有另一个元素是短暂的奖励，Lisalo说道：“玩游戏便能获得满足感。”

让人上瘾的游戏玩法

手机游戏必须能够轻易上手。简单的回合制能让玩家短暂地消磨时间。并且这是非常让人上瘾的。《愤怒的小鸟》的玩家总会想：“再玩一局就好！”Lisalo说道：“你总是拥有玩一轮游戏的时间。但是不知不觉你可能已经玩了3个小时了。”

创造优秀的关卡

这支小小的《愤怒的小鸟》团队在第一款游戏时设计了200多个关卡。他们使用了一个关卡编辑器，从而更轻松地创造关卡，但同时他们也尝试着创造一些独特且具有更高质量的关卡。每一个都是不同的，你也会在关卡设计中想出一些疯狂的理念。Lisalo提供了一些暗示：“设计一些独特且能够轻松完成的关卡。”但是如果你想在一个关卡中实现所有目标（游戏邦注：即通过获得3颗星星），这便很难精通了。

让玩家感受到自己的付出是有价值的

如果你提供了许多关卡，就像在售价0.99美元的《愤怒的小鸟》中便有200多个关卡，能让玩家玩上好几个小时不重复，这便算值回票价了。Wilson说道：“市场具有极高的价格敏感度。如果你们是像艺电那样的大品牌，你便可以开出5美元的售价。但如果你没有多大名气，那就只能乖乖拉低价格了。”

让玩家感到愉悦并提供精简版

iPhone apps（from developergarden）

Wilson说道：“你不应该将自己的游戏当成一个一次性使用对象。我们总是计划着添加新关卡和更有趣的内容到游戏中。这么做能够吸引更多用户回来，并让他们的朋友也一起游戏。”

Wilson说道：“精简版是人们测试游戏的一个好机会。即使游戏获得推荐，但是如果玩家不能亲自尝试看看的话，他们也不一定会花钱购买。”所以你必须给予他们免费体验游戏的机会。

让游戏突显于众多竞争者中并与粉丝保持联系

Facebook（from developergarden）

每个应用商店中都有许许多多游戏。即使你遵循了《愤怒的小鸟》的团队的指示，你也很难创造出与他们一样的巨大成功。但不管怎样，你最需要做的便是设计一款带有出色角色的好游戏。然后规划游戏的营销。使用社交活动和应用营销开展病毒式宣传活动，从而提升游戏的名气。如果能够吸引玩家的口头宣传便再好不过。你可以使用社交媒体功能去呈现出玩家的高分，让他们邀请好友，或者你也可以支持像苹果Game Center那样获取成就的功能。根据Rovio的市场营销专家，如果你足够幸运获得应用商店的推荐，这便能够保证你取得突破性的发展。

利用YouTube，Facebook和Twitter。为游戏制作一个优秀的预告片。“很多小孩都会观看这一视频。”使用Twitter和Facebook与玩家进行交流。让他们知道你们何时会提供额外的关卡，新游戏内容等等。提供游戏攻略视频，引导玩家完成一些较复杂的关卡。听取用户反馈和要求，并通过电子邮件进行回复。

（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，拒绝任何不保留版权的转载，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

The secrets of great game design for smartphones

By: Stefan von Gagern

Games are ruling the hit lists in every App Store. But how do you make a great game? Everybody knows the Angry Birds success story, but it’s hard to describe what makes it so sucessful. Let’s take a deeper look behind this example.

Everybody knows the story: Rovio, a small company in 2003 from Finland, started with Java Games and moved on to the smartphone. After around 50 games they landed a smash hit with Angry birds, which is now a huge worldwide brand, followed by several spin-offs, updates and movie themed versions like Angry Birds Star Wars. What is the secret of their success? Let the creators talk: Some years ago, at 2011’s Game Expo, Jaakko Lisalo and Matthew Wilson of Rovio Mobile gave a insight to the creation, from concept to development to marketing and told lots of secrets of their success.

The first secret of angry birds was to focus 100 percent on the smartphone. “We wanted to use real onscreen controls, no virtual gamepads”, says Jaakko Lisalo. Many smartphone games are ports from other systems – and hard to control, because real joypads have to be simulated by software buttons on the touchscreen. The other ingredients in the concept were strong characters, a “suitable for all”-design focus and great 2D-physics.

First the graphic-design oriented Lisalo drew pictures that gave a preview of the games look and feel. One of them featured the now extremely popular look of Angry Birds. “Everybody seemed to like it”, says Lisalo. “Even the publisher. They wanted to have the game, although we didn’t have it yet.”

You won’t need a huge team

There was a core team of only four people working on the first Angry Birds game. The development time was around four months. And the team did a lot by itself. For example: Humor is a key factor for the games appeal. Angry Birds uses quirky characters and wacky sound design: Actually a case of beer helped the team doing the funny sounds – themselves. The graphic designer for example made the iconic sound by the red bird attacking the pigs.

Keep it simple & attract the casuals and the hardcore

Simple Characters, simple gameplay help making the characters work on a small display. The angry birds actually are circles or simple geometric forms with some eyes drawn onto them. Familiar elements help to understand the game immediately. In the first version the game screen was confusing to some test persons, one crucial element was still missing. “The people didn’t know what to do with the birds. So we used a slingshot. Everybody knows hot to use that”, says Lisalo.

Mobile Games should have easy access, but can keep hardcore gamers entertained for weeks and months if they offer depth and replay value. Our example Angry Birds is a game of skill. Even if you’re a pro, there are still enough challenges to master, for example if you aim for three stars in all the levels you have to try over and over. “This gives a lot of replay value”.

Rewarding gameplay

Angry birds is not only fun to play it’s also fun to watch. There’s non-stop action on the screen, so in many cases players on the bus attract their neighbours watching them play the game. Another factor, is the short-time reward: “It feels very satisfying to play”, says Lisalo.

Addictive gameplay

Mobile games should be easy to pick up and play. An easy turn-based rhythm make it a perfect time-killer for short breaks. And it’s very addictive. Angry Birds players always think “Just one more go!”. “You have always time for one round. Without noticing you have played it for three hours”, says Lisalo.

Produce great levels

The small Angry Birds team designed around 200 levels for the first game. They used a level editor, that surely made the work easier, but tried to produce unique and high quality levels. Each one is different and you’ll find a lot of crazy ideas in the level design. Lisalo gives some hints: “Design levels that are unique and easy to finish.” But if you are going for all the goals in one level (shown by achieving three stars), it’s very hard to master.

Offer great value for money

If you offer lots of levels like around 200 levels in Angry Birds with hours and hours of gameplay for around 99 US-Cents it’s a lot value for money. “The market is extremely price sensitive. If you’re a big brand like Electronic Arts you can charge five bucks. If you’re unknown, bring it to the lowest level”, says Wilson.

Keep gamers happy & offer a lite version

“You shouldn’t treat your game as a disposable object”, says Wilson. “We’ve always had the plan to add new levels and great stuff. That always brings users back to the game and makes their friends seeing them play the game – and makes them download the game.”

“A lite version is a great chance for people test out the game”, says Wilson. “Even if it’s featured and the people have no chance demoing it, they probably won’t buy it.” So if possible give them a chance to enter with a free-to-play.

Make it stand out in the crowd & connect to your fans

There are lots and lots of games in every app store. Even if you follow the hints by the Angry Birds team you’ll of course have a hard time repeating this success story. But anyway, the first and crucial step is to design a great game with great characters. Then marketing sets in. Launch a viral campaign using social channels and app marketing for making your game famous. If it’s great word of mouth will set in. You can make that easy by including social media features for posting highscores, inviting friends or if you support features like Apples Game Center for getting achievements. And if you’re lucky and you get a featured “spotlight” spot in an app store, that will be the guarantee for the breakthrough, according Roxio’s marketing expert.

Take advantage of YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. Make a great trailer for your game. “A lots of kids will watch it, just for the video.” Use Twitter and Facebook to connect to your players. Let them know when you offer additional levels, new games or other stuff. Offer walkthrough videos, leading through hard levels. Listen to feedback, requests and respond to e-Mails.（source：developergarden）